The Sculptural Shift
The studio in Hangzhou carries the weight of a fundamental transition. For years, the focus remained on the physical presence of form, rooted in the discipline of public sculpture. This training at the China Academy of Art, where the Public College Graduate Award was received, demanded an understanding of volume and space. In 2015, the establishment of Shijin Art Studio marked a period of professional solidification, coinciding with a deep immersion into the structural demands of three-dimensional work. Membership in the Zhejiang Sculpture Association reflects this commitment to the tangible and the monumental.
A shift occurs in 2022. The focus moves from the external weight of sculpture to the internal, fluid complexities of the canvas. This change is not a departure from form, but a translation of it. Guided by the lived experiences of maternal life, the work moves into a new dimension of expression, trading the permanence of stone or metal for the immediacy of paint.
Evolution of Form
The transition from the public square to the private canvas reveals a new language of iteration. The work explores how life repeats, adapts, and emerges through different layers of experience. This period of development is marked by several key milestones:
- The founding of Shijin Art Studio in 2015.
- The transition to predominantly on-canvas painting in 2022.
- The solo exhibition "Chen Qin Solo Exhibition-Iterative Emergence" in 2024 at Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok.
- Participation in the group exhibition "If You Can See" in 2023 at Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing.
The Iterative Emergence
The current practice exists at the intersection of sculptural logic and painterly gesture. The influence of a background in public sculpture remains visible in the way space is negotiated on a flat surface. There is a sense of building and layering, a process of emergence that mirrors the biological and personal cycles that prompted the shift in 2022. The work does not merely represent; it constructs a presence through the accumulation of marks and the memory of volume.
